NCsoft has announced a "strategic equity investment" in Empty Vessel

The Texas game development company, Empty Vessel, has received a "strategic equity investment" from NCsoft. This investment was facilitated by NC West, NCsoft's arm in North America.

This collaboration initiates a "long-term partnership" and grants NCsoft the publishing rights to Defect, an upcoming first-person shooter by Empty Vessel.

Emanuel Palalic, CEO and game director of Empty Vessel, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, saying, "We're excited to partner with NCsoft. From the start, they've understood our goal – not just to build a game, but to build a better environment for the developers behind it."

Palalic also noted, "NCsoft's support and expertise will help us take Defect and Empty Vessel to the next level."

Byung-moo Park, co-CEO of NCsoft, remarked: "Empty Vessel is an AAA development studio established by game art and sound experts with successful experience and fandom in the global major genre of shooting games. We will continue to invest in securing new global IPs and building a genre-specific cluster pipeline."

This event continues NCsoft's pattern of investments. In July, the company invested $3.5 million in Stockholm-based Moon Rover Games.

Founded in March 2024, Empty Vessel was established by former developers from Naughty Dog, Id Software, and Activision. Emanuel Palalic holds the roles of CEO and game director, and the studio is managed by COO and general manager Garrett Young.

The studio's initial seed funding was led by Sisu Game Ventures, with contributions from Raptor Group, Bill Munk, and Dan Bunting.